Innovative & Creative (By-Law Enforcement)

 One of the discussions I’ve had with numerous people as I’ve toured the South Centre Award over the past month is by-law enforcement.

 The underlining motivation for most of these people is to keep their neighbourhood looking as clean, presentable and safe as possible, and wanting to hold those that live close to them to a certain standard when it comes to their property.

 The frustration for most of these people is that they don’t see the results they’d like when they report issues, and that’s why I believe we need to review how the City of Brandon’s by-law enforcement works.

 The first and most obvious step is to determine whether the City of Brandon has enough by-law officers on the ground, investigating these nuisances on a timely basis. According to the 2017 City of Brandon Compensation Report, there are currently seven by-law enforcement officers on staff.

 By-law officers in Brandon have additional responsibilities including animal control and process service (delivering court related documents).

 The City of Brandon’s Nuisance Bylaw is nine pages long, and includes everything from noise violations to derelict vehicles to the maximum height of grass on a property.

 The second is to make it easier for citizens to report suspected by-law violations, and be informed about the end result.

 I would propose a system that encourages citizens to report suspected by-law infractions, both via a dedicated phone line and by the use of an online service request form.

 By-law enforcement can be, largely, a complain driven aspect for the City of Brandon, and I believe the easier we make it for citizens to not only report issues but find out what’s been done.

 I believe the follow-up portion of the process is an important one, and is helps maintain trust, keeps avenues open and encourages citizen participation.

 At the very least, by-law enforcement (including number of complaints, number of issues resolved and followups with complainants) could be added to the City of Brandon’s Corporate Scorecard.

 The City of Regina has a system that seems to work effectively, and might be the one we could model a City of Brandon system after.

 It allows citizens to fill out a service request form, and you check a box to indicate whether you would like a reply.

 It also ensures any personal information provided by the complainant is confidential, and will not be disclosed to the subject of the complaint.

Here are the details, followed by a sample of the online service request form.

 

Report Suspected Bylaw Infractions

Suspected bylaw violations can be submitted to Service Regina by calling 306-777-7000 or using the online service request form. To aid staff in responding to your complaint in a timely manner, please be ready with the following information:

• Your name and phone number for contact, if follow-up is required
• The address and location of the property for which you are submitting a complaint
• A short and concise description of the complaint

Any personal information you provide is confidential and will not be disclosed to the subject of the complaint.

What happens after I submit a bylaw complaint?

• Service Regina enters your complaint (i.e., service request) into the computer system and it is forwarded to the Bylaw Enforcement Branch.
• The assigned officer will visit the location of the complaint to conduct an initial inspection. Depending on the volume of complaints and available City resources, it may take several days before an initial inspection occurs. Complaints are handled on a priority basis.
• If there appears to be a bylaw violation, the officer will take appropriate action to achieve compliance, depending on the type of violation.